Another College Cheater, Cheating Himself

[Monstre]

@commasense

Monstre: thanks for answering my question. My point was whether you make an effort to guard against your own confirmation bias by subjecting all (or at least some) students to the same checks as those who seem obviously to be cheating. I don’t doubt your ability to detect cheating, but you might be at risk of relying on it too much, and get fooled by really good cheating, or by someone whom you would prefer not to suspect. You could protect against this by Googling everyone’s code, or by randomly spot checking a certain number, even if they didn’t set off your internal detector.

Right, and I understand your point. And on assignments where they are all writing to the same specifications, I do run them all as a batch through that program I talked about. In this particular Java game project, I haven’t done Google checks before – but in the usual context of this course (these are students who I’ve mostly had before in my C++ class, and this term, they all were), I’ve felt that my Java students had already proven themselves as students who do their own work. Maybe it’s time to start spot-checking (with Google) the code on these assignments after all.

As for students getting away with it – I’m sure there are some who manage to slip under the radar on some assignments. But over time, the way I’ve adjusted to deal with that is to structure the course grading scale to minimize its benefit. If they “ace” the assignments but bomb the tests, they aren’t passing the class. And I write my tests so that any code-writing questions are asked in a similar format they’ve seen on assignments. If they didn’t do their own work on the assignments, they are pretty much going to blow those test questions.

[Monstre]

Just thought I’d post an update, as the matter is now officially resolved.

Went through the official process, which first involved having the student come see me. He actually had not seen my e-mail by the time fall term started, but came in on his own after seeing that his grade was showing as “Incomplete”.

I showed him the programs side by side, said they were identical, line for line, except that the original coder’s comments (some of which were in Chinese language characters) had been removed.

He tried going through the usual battery of excuses (they always do).
“No – I wrote it, but I just used this one for help…”
“I just used it to get some ideas…”
“Well, I only used a couple functions, not all of it…”

I asked him to point out for me which pieces of code he says he wrote completely himself. As I paged through, he picked out a couple functions. I showed him that these functions were identical to the other code, line for line. He tried reversing, “No, I meant those were the parts I used…”

After I dismantled the standard BS attempts, he gave in and accepted responsibility. I made sure he was aware of the process, where he could read up on the Academic Honor Code policy, his rights, etc. And the possible resolutions. It could either be resolved within the department (in writing), or sent to a higher authority (an Honor Code Hearing Panel).

He tried the usual question about doing makeup work (rather than taking a 0 on the assignment, which was my proposed sanction – and he knew it made the difference between passing the course with a C- and not passing with a D). I explained why I didn’t find makeup work an appropriate response.

And I sent him off to think about it.

He came in yesterday to sign the “Step 1” form, which resolves it internally, and it does not have to go to a Hearing Panel. Now I just have to submit the grade change form and send a copy of the form he signed to the Dean of Students office, which they keep on file (in case of any future violations).

Just FYI, the university’s honor code specifies that any second violation must be sent to a Hearing Panel. (And not just in my class, but in any classes – that’s why the Dean of Students office keeps the record of these things).

[Susie_Derkins]

Glad to hear that the situation is resolved. It’s a shame that he now has this mark against him over what should have been a fun assignment in a class he wasn’t even required to take in the first place.

Some people’s children.